2014 marks the third of a five year NCCOS-funded Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) project comparing HAB “hotspots” off southern and central California. The short-term goal is to determine the role nutrients from different sources play in fostering HABs. Comparing stimulation of HABs by nutrients in upwelled water with nutrients from human activities, such as urban runoff and ocean sewage disposal, may lead to HAB or toxin reduction strategies. The long-term goal of the project is to build computer models that will predict toxic blooms from remote sensing images in collaboration with NASA-funded investigators.

Project partners include NCCOS, the University of California at Santa Cruz, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, the University of Southern California, the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, and NASA.